Congress
Takano: Asian Development Bank LGBTQ, intersex safeguards are an ‘opportunity’
‘It’s not a radical thing’

California Congressman Mark Takano on Dec. 2 told the Washington Blade he is hopeful the Asian Development Bank will add sexual orientation and gender identity to the institution’s safeguards.
“I am optimistic that something like this can be done,” said Takano during a Zoom interview. “It’s not a radical thing. It’s very modest.”
The ADB, which is based in the Philippines, seeks to promote economic and social development through the Asia-Pacific Region.
Ambassador Chantale Wong, who is the ADB’s U.S. director, is the first openly lesbian American ambassador. Takano, a Democrat who will represent California’s 39th Congressional District in the next Congress, is openly gay.
The Treasury Department has endorsed the safeguard that Takano said he expects “to come to a head” in the spring of 2023. Takano and other members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and the Congressional LGBT+ Equality Caucus — U.S. Reps. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.) and Ted Liu (D-Calif.) — in an Oct. 14 letter to ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa expressed their “strong support for the creation of a standalone gender and sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) safeguard in the Asian Development Bank (ADB)’s updated Safeguard Policy Statement.”
“The inclusion of such a safeguard presents an opportunity for the ADB to lead by example among multilateral development banks (MDBs) in a region of the world where civil society has been at the fore of pushing positive change for sexual minorities,” reads the letter.
“The explicit inclusion and protections for sexual and gender minorities in this proposed safeguard are not only beneficial for the economic and social development of the region, but would also open further opportunities for investment,” it adds.
Takano noted the ADB would be the first multilateral development bank to add sexual orientation and gender identity to its safeguards.
“This is an opportunity for the ADB to be a leader among MDBs globally,” reads the letter. “As Asian Americans and advocates for the LGBTQI+ population here in the United States, we are eager to see the ADB spearhead the establishment of necessary protections for the international LGBTQI+ community that will allow them to participate in civic life more fully.”
President Joe Biden in 2021 issued a memo that committed the U.S. to promoting LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad as part of his administration’s overall foreign policy.
Wong and Takano were both at the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore on Aug. 1 when U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) spoke in support of LGBTQ and intersex rights.
The speech coincided with a Congressional delegation to Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan that Pelosi led. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Aug. 21 announced his country will decriminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations. Lawmakers in the Southeast Asian city-state late last month repealed the colonial-era sodomy law, and approved a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in Taiwan since 2019. Lawmakers in Indonesia on Tuesday approved a new Criminal Code that would, among other things, criminalize sex outside of marriage.
Qatar, which is hosting the 2022 World Cup, is among the countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain punishable by death.
Takano over the Thanksgiving holiday led a Congressional delegation to Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq and Lebanon. The Council for Global Equality notes homosexuality is still criminalized in Kuwait and Lebanon. Discrimination and persecution based on sexual orientation and gender identity remains commonplace in all four of the Middle Eastern countries that Takano visited.
“Different parts of Asia are showing signs of huge progress in terms of governance and recognizing LGBTQIA+ minorities and recognizing their humanity,” Takano told the Blade, while noting 60 percent of the world’s population lives in Asia. “Being able to embed safeguards into Asian Development Bank standards and how they approve projects and implement projects could be a huge leap forward in terms of achieving new standards in all these countries with regards to LGBTQ people in Asian nations.”
“This is very exciting,” he added.
Takano also specifically praised the Biden administration, American diplomats and Wong herself for their efforts to advance LGBTQ and intersex rights
“(U.S. foreign missions) find ways to create safe spaces for LGBTQ people in those countries to be able to come together, to talk,” said Takano. “To have someone like Ambassador Wong lead that is very important and that the administration supports the efforts of Ambassador Wong is not surprising.”
“What a difference it makes to have President Biden and Vice President Harris, but not only have they with their words said they support our community, they’ve also appointed people like Amb. Wong, who is actually taking actions,” he added. “She’s using the levers and dials of her office to take a step forward.”
GOP support for Respect for Marriage Act ‘an unexpected turn’
Takano spoke with the Blade two days after the Respect for Marriage Act passed in the U.S. Senate by a 61-36 vote margin, with 12 Republicans supporting it.
More than 40 Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives voted for the Respect for Marriage Act in July. A final vote could take place in the chamber as early as Thursday.
“We were reeling from that Supreme Court decision on Roe and the comments in Justice Thomas’ concurring opinion,” said Takano. “Boy oh boy did we in Congress say that we need to protect what we can. The Respect for Marriage Act is making sure we protect same-sex marriages, but also protect interracial marriages.”
Takano conceded Republican support for the bill “is kind of an unexpected turn in this Congress,” even though a majority of GOP lawmakers opposed it. Takano also acknowledged public opinion has shifted significantly in support of marriage equality over the last decade.
“This court has shown it’s pretty radical,” he said. “I’m happy that we have a way to make sure that existing marriages are protected.”
Congress
Ritchie Torres says he is unlikely to run for NY governor
One poll showed gay Democratic congressman nearly tied with Kathy Hochul

Gay Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres of New York is unlikely to challenge New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) in the state’s next gubernatorial race, he said during an appearance Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“I’m unlikely to run for governor,” he said. ““I feel like the assault that we’ve seen on the social safety net in the Bronx is so unprecedented. It’s so overwhelming that I’m going to keep my focus on Washington, D.C.”
Torres and Hochul were nearly tied in a poll this spring of likely Democratic voters in New York City, fueling speculation that the congressman might run. A Siena College poll, however, found Hochul leading with a wider margin.
Back in D.C., the congressman and his colleagues are unified in their opposition to President Donald Trump’s signature legislation, the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which heads back to the House after passing the Senate by one vote this week.
To pay for tax cuts that disproportionately advantage the ultra-wealthy and large corporations, the president and Congressional Republicans have proposed massive cuts to Medicaid and other social programs.
A provision in the Senate version of the bill that would have blocked the use of federal funds to reimburse medical care for transgender youth was blocked by the Senate Parliamentarian and ultimately struck from the legislation, reportedly after pressure from transgender U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) and lesbian U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).
Torres on “Morning Joe” said, “The so-called Big Beautiful Bill represents a betrayal of the working people of America and nowhere more so than in the Bronx,” adding, “It’s going to destabilize every health care provider, every hospital.”
Congress
House Democrats oppose Bessent’s removal of SOGI from discrimination complaint forms
Congressional Equality Caucus sharply criticized move

A letter issued last week by a group of House Democrats objects to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s removal of sexual orientation and gender identity as bases for sex discrimination complaints in several Equal Employment Opportunity forms.
Bessent, who is gay, is the highest ranking openly LGBTQ official in American history and the second out Cabinet member next to Pete Buttigieg, who served as transportation secretary during the Biden-Harris administration.
The signatories to the letter include a few out members of Congress, Congressional Equality Caucus chair and co-chairs Mark Takano (Calif.), Ritchie Torres (N.Y.), and Becca Balint (Vt.), along with U.S. Reps. Nikema Williams (Ga.), Hank Johnson (Ga.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (Ill.), Delia Ramirez (Ill.), Joyce Beatty (Ohio), Lloyd Doggett (Texas), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.), Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), and Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas).
The letter explains the “critical role” played by the EEO given the strictures and limits on how federal employees can find recourse for unlawful workplace discrimination — namely, without the ability to file complaints directly with the Employment Opportunity Commission or otherwise engage with the agency unless the complainant “appeal[s] an agency’s decision following the agency’s investigation or request[s] a hearing before an administrative judge.”
“Your attempt to remove ‘gender identity’ and ‘sexual orientation’ as bases for sex discrimination complaints in numerous Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) forms will create unnecessary hurdles to employees filing EEO complaints and undermine enforcement of federal employee’s nondiscrimination protections,” the members wrote in their letter.
They further explain the legal basis behind LGBTQ inclusive nondiscrimination protections for federal employees in the EEOC’s decisions in Macy v. Holder (2012) and Baldwin v. Foxx (2015) and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020).
“It appears that these changes may be an attempt by the department to dissuade employees from reporting gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination,” the lawmakers wrote. “Without forms clearly enumerating gender identity and sexual orientation as forms of sex discrimination, the average employee who experiences these forms of discrimination may see these forms and not realize that the discrimination they experienced was unlawful and something that they can report and seek recourse for.”
“A more alarming view would be that the department no longer plans to fulfill its legal obligations to investigate complaints of gender identity and sexual orientation and ensure its
employees are working in an environment free from these forms of discrimination,” they added.
Congress
Senate parliamentarian orders removal of gender-affirming care ban from GOP reconciliation bill
GOP Senate Leader John Thune (S.D.) hoped to pass the bill by end-of-week

Restrictions on the use of federal funds for gender-affirming care will be stripped from the Republican-led Senate reconciliation bill, following a ruling by the Senate parliamentarian on Tuesday that struck down a number of health related provisions.
The legislation banned coverage for transgender medical care through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, language that was also included in the House version of the bill passed on May 22 with a vote of 215-214.
The parliamentarian’s decision also rejected Republican proposals for a Medicaid provider tax framework, which allows states to charge health care providers and use the funds to support their programs, along with broader cuts to Medicaid.
Amid calls to override Tuesday’s ruling from Republicans like U.S. Rep. Greg Steube (Fla.), GOP Senate Majority Leader John Thune (S.D.) told reporters “That would not be a good outcome for getting a bill done.”
He also acknowledged that the timing and schedule might have to be adjusted. Senate Republicans had hoped to pass the reconciliation bill by the end of this week, though this was not a legal or procedural deadline.
Dubbed the “one big, beautiful bill” by President Donald Trump, the legislation would extend tax breaks from 2017 that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest Americans and corporations. To cover the cost, which is estimated to exceed $4 trillion over 10 years, the bill would make drastic cuts to social welfare programs, particularly Medicaid.
Democrats are not in a position to negotiate across the aisle with Republicans holding majorities in both chambers of Congress, but for months they have been calling attention to the effort by their GOP colleagues to strip Americans of their health insurance to pay for the tax breaks.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 10.9 million people would lose their coverage, either through Medicaid or the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. Some Republicans like U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.) are pushing back against the deep cuts to Medicaid, arguing they would be devastating for many of their constituents and also to hospitals, nursing homes, and community health care providers in rural areas.
In a statement emailed to the Washington Blade on Tuesday, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) said, “Anti-trans extremists are attempting to use the full power of the government to hurt kids, and recent Supreme Court decisions in Skrmetti and Medina are enabling their quest.”
While today’s ruling by the Senate parliamentarian is a temporary win, I will keep pushing back on these shameful attempts to harm trans kids and their families for trying to live authentically,” said the senator, who also serves as ranking member of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee.
U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), who is gay and chairs the Congressional Equality Caucus, also shared a statement with the Washington Blade addressing the parliamentarian’s ruling:
“This ruling by the Senate Parliamentarian is a win for the transgender people who rely on Medicaid and CHIP to access the healthcare they need to live fuller, happier, and healthier lives—but the fight is not over yet,” the congressman said.
“Republican Senators must abide by her ruling and remove the ban from the final version of Trump’s Big Ugly Bill,” he said. “Yet, even with this provision removed, this bill is terrible for the American people, including trans Americans. Every Equality Caucus member voted against it in the House and we’re ready to do so again if the Senate sends it back to the House.”
The Human Rights Campaign issued a press release with a statement from the organization’s vice president for government affairs, David Stacy:
“The fact remains that this bill belongs in the trash. It continues to include devastating cuts to health care programs — including Medicaid — that would disproportionately harm the LGBTQ+ community, all so the already rich can receive huge tax cuts,” Stacy said.
“While it comes as a relief that the Senate parliamentarian concluded that one provision in the nightmarish reconciliation bill that would have denied essential, best practice health care to transgender adults does not belong, we aren’t done fighting,” he said. “With attacks on our community coming from many directions, including the Supreme Court, we will work to defeat this bill with everything we’ve got.”